Latest on Cozumel and Hurricane Emily

[resqsqurt]

OK, Guys. Christi isn't kidding. We dove on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday was Columbia Shallows and Tormentos. Viz wasn't very good and seas were a little choppy, BUT...Wednesday was GREAT!!! We went to Santa Rosa Wall and the Wreck. Viz was back up and conditions were better. The reefs had a little extra sand on them, but other than that, everything looked great. There didn't appear to be any major damage to anything. Anyone who is planning a trip, I'd say go ahead and go if your resort or hotel is open.

We rode out the storm down there as well, but others have pretty much covered all of the basics. If anyone has any questions I can answer, please let me know. I know Christi can pretty much answer anything you ask, but at least this would be the tourist point of view...

BTW-Anyone going down there today, we left a bunch of bottled water in Room 207 at the Barracuda. If someone else hasn't taken it, you are welcome to it.

I'll try to post more info tomorrow as it's really late here and I'm going to bed...

 

[Moodiejeff]

Confirmed. Funjet charter flights operating from 2 August (forward) are still a go.

FYI - I called at 11:00 pm so take this with a grain of salt, I obviously wasn't talking to Funjet's "A-Team".

This is info I just got from Funjet (Chicago only). Supposedly starting Aug. 2nd they will resume flying to Coz from O'Hare (on United I suspect). All booking must be done w/ the reservations office. No online bookings accepted at this time. If that is the case we will be making a trip in late Aug. I need to call back during normal business hours when I'm ready to book.

However, I checked United's site and they don't show any flights to Coz whatsoever so they must have suspended their flights. Knowing full well they fly down there 3 days a week from here I checked Expedia... same thing, no United flights. Obviously all this is subject to change (hopefully sooner than later). Continental, American, Delta & US Airways all showed flights for $515 and above.

Sooooo, as of right now we can't do anything, i'm still a bit skeptical. There are LOTS of options from Chicago but NOTHING beats the $200 direct flights through Funjet. I want to spend my money down in Coz, not give it to the airlines.

Glad to hear the reefs look good. I just hope the far southern reefs didn't take too much of a beating. We did Chun Cha Cab in June and it was absolutely Pristine! I hope that it still is, it was amazing to see all the soft corals wafting in the surge.

 

[Lawrence914]

It's 6am local time... I called and a nice lady gave me the same information from yesterday. With as stretched financially as the airline industry is, I'd be very surprised if Funjet could close down a major destination route like Cozumel for very long.

I hope the lady is correct. :blink:

FYI - I called at 11:00 pm so take this with a grain of salt, I obviously wasn't talking to Funjet's "A-Team".

This is info I just got from Funjet (Chicago only). Supposedly starting Aug. 2nd they will resume flying to Coz from O'Hare (on United I suspect). All booking must be done w/ the reservations office. No online bookings accepted at this time. If that is the case we will be making a trip in late Aug. I need to call back during normal business hours when I'm ready to book.

However, I checked United's site and they don't show any flights to Coz whatsoever so they must have suspended their flights. Knowing full well they fly down there 3 days a week from here I checked Expedia... same thing, no United flights. Obviously all this is subject to change (hopefully sooner than later). Continental, American, Delta & US Airways all showed flights for $515 and above.

Sooooo, as of right now we can't do anything, i'm still a bit skeptical. There are LOTS of options from Chicago but NOTHING beats the $200 direct flights through Funjet. I want to spend my money down in Coz, not give it to the airlines.

Glad to hear the reefs look good. I just hope the far southern reefs didn't take too much of a beating. We did Chun Cha Cab in June and it was absolutely Pristine! I hope that it still is, it was amazing to see all the soft corals wafting in the surge.

 

[Mawg]

It's too bad they aren't relying on their customer service instead. The only options I have been given are to cancel completely, or reschedule. Unfortunately they don't have a single seat open for all of August. But, they'll happily fly me somewhere else leaving out of a different city. I guess the folks at Funjet have never actually planned a vacation, or they'd know how unacceptable that is. Oh well, I guess we won't be going to Cozumel this year, and I'll know better than to ever use Funjet again.

Dallas, I cant guarantee it but call this # 713-784-2030.Ask for John Chromy. He is a wholesaler and in the past , he has gotten me to Cozumel when others couldnt on a last minute basis. He routinely helps friends of mine in Denison fly to Cozumel direct from DFW on American Airlines. He may have to put you on Ryan Airlines. No problem there. Dont worry, they do an excellent job. Good Luck.

 

[SaltyKSue]

If that is the case we will be making a trip in late Aug. I need to call back during normal business hours when I'm ready to book.

Hey ~Moodiejeff ~ a group of us will be there Aug 28th - Sept. 4th diving with Blue~XTSea. If your there at that time maybe we could all meet up for dinner or something.
There is another group from the board who will be there for a few of those same days diving with Christi too.
Maybe we could have a SB party night!

 

[Lawrence914]

I'm on the phone with Funjet again. Story changed to "all charter flights cancelled" until September.

Looks like I'm screwed. So much for my vacation before I go back to the middle east.

 

[Giggi]

Our LDS is also an Apple Vacations rep and has used Funjet in the past. I'll forward this info to them and ask them to please respond.

 

[DallasNewbie]

Mawg, thanks for the tip, I will try that next time. For this trip, it looks like Funjet can get us into Cancun, and we'll do the bus/ferry thing. My wife is very excited about arrying our bags 3 blocks to the ferry station.

 

[Lawrence914]

Almost 6 hours later... after being bounced between Expedia and Funjet... Funjet won't honor their posted policy of flying me into Cancun and providing a coupon for the ferry. Why? Because I purchased the ticket through Expedia, not Funjet directly.

But they would sell me a ticket directly to Cancun if I paid them 200 bucks more for the seat. Expedia offered to switch me to another flight, if I paid a fee and the extra money (at +200 dollars).

It's not their fault there was a hurricane. But it was their pathetic response that was so unnerving. I absolutely lost it. I used all those neat four letter words I learned driving a tank. Opportunistic b*stards. I just had them refund all my money.

-Lawrence

P.S. The Funjet rep actually told me that if I had booked an entire package with them, they would have been more willing to help me. But I only booked a flight.

 

[DallasNewbie]

Where did you find the offer of a coupon for the ferry?

Edit: I found it on their updated cancellation page.